"Can't refuse because I always lose; can't help myself, bad habits," sang Billy Field in his 1981 hit, Bad Habits. It is easy to identify with these lyrics because, well, once temptation's got a hold, resistance fails and all feels lost. But why are bad habits such a prevalent condition in human nature? It's a question I hear all the time in my workshops and seminars on self-esteem. In researching my book, The Goddess DIET, See a Goddess in the Mirror in 21 Days, I learned a lot about habits and how to retrain the mind over 21 days. Herewith are the three keys to successfully breaking the bad ones and creating some good ones.

Create New Rules

It’s not rocket science that if you make the same choices you get the same results. In fact, one of my favourite expressions during a brainstorming session is, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

So the key to breaking into new habits is to create new rules for yourself. Take a walk at the same time every day. Incorporate an apple into breakfast every day. Prepare for a meditation using the same ritual – wear the same clothes, burn the same oils, use the same relaxation technique before you begin. The more senses you can get involved the better.

Be Patient

Thanks to the work by plastic surgeon Dr Maxwell Maltz in the 1950s and ‘60s, it is now accepted that it takes 21 days to break a habit. This came about when Dr Maltz noticed his patients would often feel the same on the inside even if they’d had reconstructive surgery to look different on the outside. He realised that a person’s relationship with their inner-self self paves the way for how they see their outer-self, so in an effort to avoid the scalpel, set about improving self-image as a means to repairing the patient’s outer-self.

Upon further investigation, he noted in his book, Psycho-Cybernatics (Pocket Books 1971), that it took 21 days for amputees to cease ‘feeling’ their amputated limb. He applied the same 21-day window to create self-image improvement prior to surgery, with the result being surgery became unnecessary for many patients.

Be Persistent

Dr Maltz's 21-day theory was supported when Yale School of Medicine researchers looked closely at synaptic connections (the brain circuitry that allows brain cells to talk to each other). According to Charles Greer, professor of neurosurgery and neurobiology and senior author of the study1, synaptic connections “...do not appear until 21 days after the birth of new brain cells.”

While the new cells are maturing, they rely on signals from other brain regions thereby taking on existing patterns of behaviour. So by applying new stimuli and data to your brain for 21 days straight, you are effectively training your new brain cells to behave in accordance with your new rules.

Resist reverting to old behaviours during this 21-day window, as this will interrupt the new habits you are teaching your brain cells. By your fourth week, you’ll know you have been successful when it is easier to do the new behaviour than not to.

——————————-

Science and research aside, I can vouch for the 21 day theory because it worked for me. This is why I based my holistic well-being program, The Goddess DIET, See a Goddess in the Mirror in 21 Days, on immersing yourself in 21 days of Daily Intentional Empowerment Tools ('DIET') so that you may learn to love your body, love your Self and love your goddess within, for the rest of your life.

Anita Revel is the creatrix of igoddess.com, a resource portal for women's wellbeing. You can click here to read more of her columns with United Press International. © copyright 2008 by Anita Revel.
.